Optical Paddle Solution for "Tempest 2000"

[RARusk]

A couple of years ago I started the topic "Logitech Wingman to Tempest2K paddle controller?" in an attempt to convert the paddle control into something that could be used for "Tempest 2000". After playing around with it for a little bit, I gave up and placed the unit, and all of the pieces, into a box and let it sit.

 

After doing an A/V modification to my new Jaguar, chronicled in the topic "Jaguar Audio/Video Modification", I decided to revisit the Logitech Wingman Warrior unit.

 

I managed to dismantle the entire paddle unit so I could clean it up then reassembled it. I also took apart one of my Jaguar joypads and looked at the main FAQ on how to hook up a Indy 500 controller for T2K use. I hooked up wires for the Right and Left Directional buttons. After acquiring power and ground from Port 2 to power the Logitech, I began to poke around.

 

With just using one of the directional wires, I noticed that the ship would spaz in place if I touched a certain spot where the plug that connected the main board to the optical board. I also found another spot next to it where the ship would also spaz in place but in a different manner.

 

So then I placed both directional wires to these two spots. The ship would still spaz in place but it was different than the other two. Then I switched the wires around.

 

And the unit came to life. Although a little sensitive this paddle controller works great with "Tempest 2000". At this point all I can do is move the ship around and die since I have no fire buttons hooked up right now. The next few posts will show you where to hook things up and show the unit itself.

 

In the picture below is the Logitech Wingman Warrior joystick unit. I gutted my unit long ago but the thing to look for is the red paddle unit on the left side.

 

[RARusk]

In the picture below you can see the main board and the optical board (plus the underneath of the paddle unit) within the Logitech unit.

 

[RARusk]

Now that you've seen the guts of the Logitech unit it is time to show you how to hook things up.

 

First, you need to take apart a Jaguar joypad and look at the main board (which has the keypad). On one side is a ribbon cable that connects the main board to another board that has the fire buttons and D-pad. In the picture below you can see where the ribbon cable is connected to the main board. The RED arrow is the RIGHT Directionl button and the YELLOW arrow is the LEFT Directional button.

 

[RARusk]

The final picture is the underneath of the Logitech main board. The focal point is the plug where you connect the optical board to the main board.

 

You will see four arrows. The GRAY arrow is for GROUND, the RED arrow is for RIGHT, the YELLOW arrow is for LEFT, and the BLUE arrow is for +5VDC.

 

Simply connect RED to RED, YELLOW to YELLOW. That's it. Simple, and it works.

 

However, you may notice that I haven't gone over where to get GROUND and +5VDC. This is the only snag I've encountered so far. When I made my discovery I got the power and ground from Joyport 2 to power the Logitech. But when I tried to acquire the power and ground from the joypad main board, it wouldn't work. It seems that when the Logitech is hooked up to the joypad it knocks the power down from five volts to 1.22 volts on the joyboard. So now I have to get power from Joyport 2 until I find a solution that will allow the port to be clear and to allow two-player T2K games. Maybe somebody can help me out with that. I also need to start thinking about how to add fire buttons and such to complete the controller modification and turn it into a functional work of art.

 

[jaguar_fan]

Very interesting... good work!

 

How old is your Logitech Wingman Warrior unit?

 

Can you give us some more details like partn number etc. so we may be able to find a used one somewhere.

 

Thanks.

[RARusk]

The part number, based on the unit I have is 863129-0000. Although you can probably just use "Logitech Wingman Warrior" on Google and get quite a few hits (I didn't use the full name on my original search years ago and that is why I didn't get anywhere then). The Wingman Warrior has been out for about ten years and I don't think that they make them anymore. I originally got mine at a thrift store and that is probably the best place to look.

 

The picture below shows a complete unit, and not gutted, like my own. The thing to look out for is the red paddle unit on the left side.

 

[RARusk]

I finally solved the power issue. As it turns out you can tap the power from the joypad board after all. When I was trying before, I was using a continuity tester, along with the Atari Enhaced Port FAQ, to find what pin (on the part of the board where the joypad cable is soldered) went to what pin on the plug. However, I was getting confusing readings because when I put a wire to pin 9 (+5V DC) I could gat a connection on four of the pins on the board. I used my multimeter to find the voltage and then connected the ground wire to where the black wire came onto the board then connected the power wire to where I thought the real voltage was coming from. Didn't work.

 

So what I did was to desolder the cable from the board and do proper continuity testing. I found out that what I thought was ground wasn't. Normally whenever you open something up you can tell what ground is by finding the black wires. This is considered a universal standard. But in the Tramiel run Atari, universal standards meant shit. In the Jaguar joypad the ground wire is the PURPLE wire not the black. Charming. I also found where the voltage wire was and it wasn't where I thought it would be too. After doing the testing I resoldered the cord back onto the board and soldered the ground and voltage wires leading into the Logitech onto where they are on the board. Now it works fine. Problem solved.

 

But before I continue work on the paddle controller I will make the joypad I am using for my experimentations into an interface device for use with other homebrew controls. However, you would still be able to use it as a joypad should the need arise, the only difference being a plug on the bottom of the joypad. I will also construct a stand and use the screw holes on the backside of the joypad as a means of attaching it to the stand. In the setup I am envisioning I would have the joypad interface to my right where I can use it to set up games and adjust camera angles and have the paddle controller on my lap (which will be connected to the interface via the plug on the bottom of the joypad).

 

Anyway, in the picture below is where you get the +5V DC and Ground from the joypad board. I changed the arrow colors to be brighter so they can be seen due to the lighting of this picture. The ORANGE arrow (on pin 5 in the picture) is +5V DC and is connected to the BLUE arrow in the picture (for the Logitech board) three posts back. The PINK arrow (on pin 7 in the picture) is for Ground and is connected to the GRAY arrow in the picture (for the Logitech board) three posts back.

 

Edited August 13, 2006 by R.A.Rusk

[RARusk]

I was doing some research on Google on the Pro Controller, because I wanted to integrate some ideas from that into the interface design, and found that I wasn't the first to do a optical paddle. Dark Knight Games, long gone I believe, had made a Extreme Rotary controller but only made about a hundred of them. According to the information I found they used an optical encoder and made a solid controller from that.

 

But at least I found an alternate solution for an optical device and maybe this information can be used on the optical encoders used for the actual arcade controller for "Tempest". If the arcade controller can be made to work with T2K then that would easily trump what I am doing now. Like they say, "nothing beats the real thing".....